Nepal-India Joint Commission meet begins

Kathmandu, October 26

The fourth Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting began in New Delhi today, with delegations from both the sides reviewing and discussing a wide range of issues, including early completion outstanding joint-venture projects in Nepal.

Talking to The Himalayan Times from New Delhi over phone, Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said sector-wise negotiation was continuing at technical levels between the two sides and an outcome would be released after a foreign minister-level talks tomorrow.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Prakash Sharan Mahat reached New Delhi today to participate in the meeting. Minister Mahat and his counterpart, External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj, will lead their respective teams in the JC meeting tomorrow.

At today’s officer-level meeting of the JC, Foreign Secretary Bairagi and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar led their respective sides and discussed an entire gamut of bilateral issues such as connectivity, trade and transit, power trade, implementations of past agreements, boundary, border security etc.

“Our focus is on early implementation of all outstanding development projects in Nepal and the understandings and agreements that were reached during the high-level visits between the two countries in the past,” Bairagi stated.

Before leaving for New Delhi, Minister Mahat told the media that the JC would comprehensively review all facets of bilateral relations as the Nepali side wanted to see tangible progress on projects that India has pledged in Nepal.

It is understood that the two sides have reached an understanding to renew the Transit Treaty. The Nepali side has also sought New Delhi’s nod to set up a consular office at Vishakhapatnam to facilitate Nepal’s trade with third countries via the port city.

At the officer-level meeting today, both the sides shared the names of their representatives for an oversight mechanism formed to monitor projects running under India’s assistance in Nepal.

The two sides also touched upon long-disputed border issues of Susta and Kalapani, as well as India’s overdue concern on early signing of the extradition treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance agreement. A source, however, shared that the two sides were unlikely to reach any understating on these issues.

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